God of the Old Testament Outline

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins p31

Atheists commonly make arguments about "the God of the Old Testament" and contrast Him with "the God of the New Testament." Is there really a contradiction there?

The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea

(Exodus 15:3)

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

How can God be both a "man of war" and "the Lord of peace?" Are these statements at odds with one another? Are they talking about two different Persons? Two different gods?

Introduction

Bad Arguments

Before looking at the categories in depth, we should address some "Bad Answers." When presented with the question of "The God of the Old Testament", Protestants typically provide one of the following two answers:

Things OT Characters Did

Just because it is in the Scripture does not mean it is approved by God, or a model for good behavior, or encouraged by the Church. The following are some commonly arisen examples that you can research and prepare with.

See Chapter 5 subsection "The Unfortunate Concubine" in Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? by Fr Gabriel Wissa.

See Chapter 6 subsection "Lot and His Daughters" and subsection "Jephthah's Daughter" in God is a Man of War by Fr Stephen de Young

Things God told Israel to do

The Conquest of the Israelites into Canaan is probably the most common form of the "God of the Old Testament" argument. 

See Chapter 31 in Timeless Truth in Truthless Times by George Bassilios.

See Chapters 5-6-7-8-9 in Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? by Fr Gabriel Wissa.

See Lesson 2.9 of ACTS 3023 for a Comprehensive Undertaking of the Canaanite War

Things God Did

The most common items in this category are:

And the main question in both cases stems down to "where was God's mercy?"

See Chapters 2-3-4 in Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? by Fr Gabriel Wissa.

See Lesson 2.8 of ACTS 3023 for a Comprehensive Undertaking of the Flood

The last category is related to "problematic" Laws that were instituted by God. In particular:

Typically, someone who makes this argument is not aware of cultural or historical context, and definitely not aware of what the actual Laws concerning women and slaves are in the Scripture.

Resources

Revision #5
Created 25 May 2023 11:14:55 by Morcous Wahba
Updated 26 June 2023 15:14:45 by Morcous Wahba